Rail Regulator tells National Rail Enquiry Scheme it must plan for capacity

8 September 1999
ORR/99/38

The Rail Regulator, Tom Winsor, has told the National Rail Enquiry Scheme (NRES) to match the standard of service that they provide to the increased demand for information from the travelling public, and to plan for capacity as more people use the railway.

Commenting on the NRES performance figures for the four-week period from 25 July to 21 August 1999, Tom Winsor said: "At the peak of the summer holiday season NRES has turned in a disappointing performance, answering only 89.86% of calls made to the service. This is below the minimum target figure of 90% which is a licence requirement, and only the fact that the number of calls in this period exceeded the cap of 4.6 million has saved NRES from a £500,000 penalty for this shortfall. This cap is a feature of the present scheme which I shall be looking at very closely in the NRES review taking place this autumn."

Notes for editors:

1. NRES is currently the subject of an enforcement order, imposed bythe Rail Regulator on 4 December 1998, for failing to meet their performance target of answering more than 90% of telephone enquiries made to the service.

2. Under this order, operators face a penalty of £500,000 for any shortfall down to 85% of telephone calls answered, and a second penalty of £500,000 for any further shortfall below that percentage figure. However, no penalty is payable if more than 4.6M calls are answered in a four-week period.

3. This year's actual performance figures (i.e. including calls abandoned within 30 seconds) are as follows: January 96.05%, February 92.63%, March91.00%, April 92.88%, May 90.15%, June 90.5%, July 90.60%, August 89.86%.